Some Like It Hot
by AlElizabeth
Summary: Dean and Sam attempt to eat ghost peppers to win a hundred dollars. It doesn't go well for them.


"Dean, this is stupid," Sam told his brother as they both stared down at the pile of bright red peppers sitting between them. Their waitress stood with the serving tray pressed against her chest, waiting to see which one would eat the first pepper.

"If we eat all these," Dean reminded him, "We get a hundred dollars. This'll be easy."

There had to be two dozen peppers sitting on the plate. That meant twelve each. If they had been bell peppers it would be a no-brainer but these were ghost peppers, coming in at over a million Scovilles. Sam didn't think it was worth a measly hundred bucks to make a fool of yourself while trying to down a dozen spicy peppers.

"Don't be a baby," Dean taunted and picked up one of the peppers by its green stem and popped it into his mouth and chewed.

"That's one!" their waitress called out to the rest of the diners, some of who were watching the Winchesters with varying levels of interest, and a cheer went up.

As Dean chewed his first pepper, he brought his fist to his mouth, struggled for a moment, and then managed to swallow.

"That's not too bad," he grimaced.

Sam stared down at the ghost peppers. Bright red and shiny, they just screamed 'Don't eat us!' but what could he do? He couldn't back out. Not only would it lose them the chance to win a hundred dollars but also he would never hear the end of it from Dean.

Resigning himself to his face, Sam picked up one of the peppers by its stem and brought it to his mouth. This close, he could smell that it was going to be hot, his nose tingling from the mere scent of it.

"C'mon Sammy," Dean encouraged, his eyes red, "You can do it."

With no more hesitation, Sam crammed the pepper into his mouth and pulled the stem off.

For a moment all he could taste was the pungent and slightly sweet flavor of the pepper before the heat set in. It coated his tongue like liquid fire and slid, oily, down his throat. Sam's eyes watered in pain and he forced himself to keep chewing. A hiccup surprised the hunter, forcing him to gasp, and then cough as he aspirated minute bits of pepper. Suddenly Sam's chest was burning and he was gasping for air.

"Dean," he wheezed, sweat breaking out on his face.

His brother wasn't paying attention; he was eating his second pepper.

Sam coughed again, his mouth, throat and chest burning, his brain sending out distress signals to the rest of his body.

Standing abruptly, Sam knew he needed to get out of there.

"Where are you going?" the waitress asked, stumbling back in surprise.

Sam ignored her and left the table, taking in huge breaths that didn't seem to reach his lungs. His head started spinning and lights began flashing in front of his eyes.

"Something's wrong!" an unfamiliar voice cried and Sam stopped, grabbing onto the back of a chair.

"Sam? Sam!"

The hunter tried to turn to the sound of his brother's voice but his brain couldn't take the lack of oxygen and promptly fell unconscious.

 _W_

Sam woke to the sound of voices- Dean's and an unfamiliar man's- speaking close by. He couldn't make out the words but his brother was speaking, quickly, loudly, like he was getting riled up for an argument.

Slowly, carefully, Sam peeled his eyes open and found himself staring into the glare of fluorescent lights. His eyes watered and he squeezed them shut.

"-very dangerous for _anyone_ to be eating peppers that hot," the unfamiliar male voice chided.

"He didn't die, did he?" Dean argued.

"No, but he lost consciousness," the doctor reminded the hunter, "Because he couldn't breathe. Your brother aspirated capsaicin into his lungs. If he was an asthmatic, he very well could have died."

"Whatever," Dean muttered.

"D'n," Sam ground out, his mouth feeling like sandpaper, his throat and chest sore.

"Sammy," Dean was at his brother's side in a minute, "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

Sam blinked at his sibling.

"You're worried?" he muttered, confused.

Dean looked sheepish and scratched the back of his head.

"I was just… ah…" he mumbled.

"Trying to act tough," Sam finished for him.

"So? He doesn't need to know you ate only one of those peppers," Dean argued, "But seriously, how do you feel?"

Sam sighed, "Sore. But I guess I'll live."

Dean smiled, "Good."

"Did we win the hundred bucks?" Sam asked even though he knew they hadn't.

Dean shook his head, "Nah, as soon as you passed out they called the ambulance. I only ate two of those peppers."

Sam nodded.

"Dean?" he asked.

"Yeah, Sam?"

"Let's stay with pool and poker to get money, okay?"

Dean grinned, "Sure, Sammy."

 **Author's Note:**

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